The present invention relates generally to the field of mainframe operating systems, and more particularly to access to unresponsive logical partition system components from a separate logical partition.
Contemporary mainframe computer systems are enabled to operate multiple concurrent logical partitions (LPARs), sometimes referred to as “images”, which operate as a set of separate computers created by the virtual division of the mainframe computer's processors, memory, and storage into multiple sets of resources, such that each set of resources can be operated independently with its own operating system instance and its own set of running applications. In effect, a physical machine can be partitioned into multiple logical partitions, each hosting a separate instance of an operating system.
If the operational processing speed of an LPAR operating system (OS) becomes unacceptably slow or “bogged down”, and the operating system user interface, or console, becomes unresponsive due to processing issues such as the lack of resources, serialization issues, or in general a “hang” condition, it may be difficult or impossible to determine the exact state of the unresponsive LPAR and view the system conditions to determine the nature and location of the problem(s). Without the ability to determine the nature and cause of problems, the system operator is unable to take action to resolve the problem. In such a situation it is possible that the LPAR OS may require an initial program load (IPL) action to correct the problem, which results in the loss of transaction state and data, without protective recovery activity.